Viva Mexico
by Kari-chan-06
Summary: PostHiatus. Gibbs moves to Mexico after resigning from duty. The team is ambushed and soon news are out that an old enemy is back. Will Gibbs come back to save them or does it need a little more to convince him that the team needs him?
1. Rainy Day

Viva Mexico

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Post-Hiatus. Gibbs moves to Mexico after resigning from duty. The team is ambushed and soon news is out that an old enemy is back. Will Gibbs come back to save them or does it need a little more to convince him that the team needs him?

* * *

1- Rainy Day 

It was a cold and rainy day in early June. Mike Franks pulled his coat closer as he watched the main entrance of NCIS headquarters. Jenny´s call had woken him the previous night and he hadn´t been able to think much about what she had said. Now his mind was spinning and he tried to think of the right thing to do. He asked himself why he had made the way to Washington at all. Not only was it so much warmer in Mexico, but there seemed to be less to worry about. For some reason he had almost forgotten how the headquarters looked -and how nasty the weather in Washington could be.

His thoughts were interrupted when a man walked out of the building. Franks would have known him from a million others, but he remained on the other side of the street and just watched him. Even from here he could sense how upset his former agent was -and how much older he seemed all of the sudden. Gibbs was not just some agent, he was probably the best NCIS had ever seen -so it was just natural that Director Shepard was upset about her best agent resigning from service, but Franks already knew that it was useless to try and talk him out of it. It was not like Gibbs to change his mind once he had made it up.

After watching Gibbs leaving, Franks turned around and walked towards the city center. He had another day until a plane would bring him back home. It had taken him a while to call Mexico home, but after a few years he had finally managed to do so. Washington was still very special to him, maybe because of his time at the NCIS, he wasn´t sure about the reasons. He had a room at a small hotel just around the corner from NCIS headquarters, but he didn´t intend to return there yet.

_NCIS building, same time_

For one of those rare moments, the bullpen was completely silent. Everyone was still staring at the doors of the elevator that had closed behind their boss just a few moments ago. Ex-boss it should be, but none of them was ready to call him that just yet. Ziva recovered first and walked back to her desk. She leaned against it with her hands folded in front of her chest and looked around. She could sense how much it hurt the rest of the team. Abby seemed at the edge to tears, something she had never expected to see from her. Usually the goth was good at hiding her feelings, but today it seemed like a different story.

McGee still stared at the silver metal doors with his jaw hanging down. Even though it looked rather stupid, not even Dinozzo made a joke about it. He too was shocked to the bones. After a few moments, Ducky was the next to recover. "I shall return to morgue." He simply said and turned around, taking the stairs for some reason not known to anyone else.

After what seemed like hours, Abby flung herself at McGee, who pulled her into a hug. Such gestures of affection were usually not seen around here, but today nobody cared, not even Jenny Shepard, who had been watching the whole scene from above with moist eyes. It was not only a professional relationship between her and Gibbs, but much more than most had known. Even though years had passed since then, but she still regarded him as a friend. She knew him better than most others and knew that he had really left them now. The time at the hospital when he had been closer to death than to life had not been as painful as the moment when the elevator doors closed behind him.

Tony sighed and returned to his desk. "It´s your team now." Gibbs had told him and those words were still echoing in his mind. It was like a dream -more like a nightmare actually. Tony had worked with Gibbs for more than 4 years and even though both men had never seemed awfully close, there was a special thing between them, something that was almost like friendship. He knew that it was not only the recent events after Gibbs had been injured severely and almost died. Another event had taken its toll on their leader -Kate´s death had hurt him, but not many people knew that. Not all had seen his tears that very night after Ari had shot her on the rooftop.

They would move on, like they had a year ago, but it got more difficult now with their leader gone. It was not that they were inexperienced or even helpless without Gibbs -all of them were seasoned investigators and had solved more cases than anyone else around NCIS. It was just the thought that Gibbs would not be there anymore. No slaps on the back of the head. No more grumpy remarks or angry looks. And no more trips to the Starbuck´s four blocks away.


	2. Mexico

Viva Mexico

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Post-Hiatus. Gibbs moves to Mexico after resigning from duty. The team is ambushed and soon news are out that an old enemy is back. Will Gibbs come back to save them or does it need a little more to convince him that the team needs him?

* * *

2- Mexico

The following day Mike Franks got off the plane. He had not taken any baggage for his trip to Washington and could walk right out into the parking lot. He felt the warm wind playing with his hair and sighed. It was so much nicer here in Mexico -not as rainy as in DC and certainly not as cold. His eyes scanned the area and stopped on the features of a woman.

As he walked up, she smiled. "Welcome back, Mike. How was the trip?" Linda asked and tilted her head a bit. She had moved into his neighborhood about a year ago and they had become a good friend since then. She was half-italian and a very handsome young woman, but Franks never saw more in her than a friend.

"Damn good to be back. I didn´t remember Washington to be so cold." He said and followed her to the silver car that was parked a few rows away. "Ever been to DC?" He asked and wondered a bit why she had never told him much about her past. He knew that she had divorced after her husband had tried to kill her, but that was about it. She was now working as a teacher at the local school.

She nodded and got behind the steering wheel. "I lived there for a while -at least until my husband freaked out. Nice place, but pretty cold at times. And the kids at school are worse than around here." She replied and pulled out of the parking lot. "So, did you find what you were looking for?"

He nodded and watched some cars passing by. "Kind of, yes. When I was still working in Washington, I had a man on my team who was probably the most brilliant on the job I´ve ever seen." He began, careful not to tell her too much. He had figured that she was too young and too sensitive to know the full truth about his past. Inspite of her job as a PE coach, she seemed fragile, almost too delicate for such a story. "He resigned last night -that´s the call I got. They wanted me to persuade him to change his mind, but he would never do that. If you met him, you would think that he´s probably the most grumpy person on this planet, but he´s top on his job."

Linda just nodded and thought for a moment. "What kind of job are you talking about? It doesn´t sound like you were selling computers or something like that." She said and smiled a bit when she saw the slight panik creeping into his features. He had never told her about his former job, but she had figured it out on her own, only she didn´t want him to notice that she knew.

"I worked in criminal investigation. It´s not always as pretty as it looks on TV, so I thought I´d spare you with details. Didn´t mean to be rude, Lin." He replied and waited until she had pulled up in his driveway. "Care for some coffee? I´ll tell you more if you want to know." He offered and she accepted with a smile.

Half an hour later they sat outside on the porch of his house, watching the sun go down behind some mountains. "So, you´ve been with the police?" She asked after a moment, sipping at her cup.

Franks grinned and shook his head. "No, not the police. Ever heard of something called NCIS?" He asked, but got a headshake, indicating no. "It´s short for Naval Criminal Investigative Service. I was a teamleader. We were investigating crimes within the Navy or such that had to do something with the Navy. I had three agents in my team -the man I told you about was one of them. He was the best I´ve ever seen. He had an instinct to what was wrong or right that has always amazed me. After I left NCIS, he eventually became a teamleader himself. Jenny, who is the Director at NCIS now and a good friend of mine, told me that his team solved more cases than any other around -I guess he really had them trained well. To make a long story short, Jenny called me up last night to have me come to DC and talk to my old friend, but it wouldn´t have worked. I just watched him leaving and there was nothing I could have done to change that." He said and watched her closely.

"Sounds sad somehow. You didn´t talk to him then?" She asked and put the cup to her lips again, smelling the strong coffee that was in her cup.

He shook his head. "Call me a coward, but I didn´t dare to walk up to him. It´s been too long and besides that he wouldn´t change his mind if the president himself would try to convince him. He´s a headstrong bastard, but still a great agent. It´s sometimes like that, you know. I knew him before his wife and daughter died -he was different back then. Has changed a lot after it happened." Franks emptied his cup and looked at his neighbor. "More?"

She drowned the last sip and shook her head. "Thanks, but I´ve got to get going. I´ll see you around, Mike." She put the empty cup onto the small table and walked off the porch. Her house lay half a block up the road, which was a five minute walk from his place. A blue car passed her as she was walking towards her house and she turned around briefly when she noticed it pulling into Franks´ driveway. Without looking back, she accelerated her steps and closed the door behind her back. She didn´t want to see who was coming to visit Mike -she had heard more today than she had probably wanted to.


	3. On Their Own

Viva Mexico

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Post-Hiatus. Gibbs moves to Mexico after resigning from duty. The team is ambushed and soon news are out that an old enemy is back. Will Gibbs come back to save them or does it need a little more to convince him that the team needs him?

* * *

3- On Their Own

"We got a female PO shot in the industrial district, near 47th and West. Let´s go." Tony said and put his gun back into the holster while his colleagues gathered their equipment. It had been a month now since Gibbs had left the team and they were managing somehow. It wasn´t easy and it reminded him strongly of the time right after Kate´s death, but he knew they had no choice.

As they were walking towards the MCRT truck, Ziva frowned. "That´s the third within two weeks -a bit strange that it´s always that district. I would expect a serial killer to try and cover up his traces." She said and hopped into the middle seat of the truck. Dinozzo was driving -which was probably a good choice since she was still having trouble getting all the traffic laws down.

"It´s definetely a bit odd, but you never know what moves them." McGee said and thought for a moment. "I remember a case where..." He began, but met two rather annoyed looking faces. "Sorry..."

They arrived at the scene a mere 15 minutes later. When Tony pulled the truck around the last corner, a shot rang out and the windshield burst into millions of pieces. All three were too shocked to react, but then dove down to cover their heads. "Anyone hit?" Dinozzo asked while more shots hit the truck.

"I´m fine." McGee managed while he tried to get his gun out of the holster. "Where´s the police? I thought we were supposed to meet them right here." He said and finally got a hold of his gun.

Ziva lay completely still and listened. "There are three of them -at least. I can´t say if there´s more, but they are shooting from two, five and ten o´clock direction." She said after a moment and smiled a bit when there was no answer. Her colleagues had never gotten used to her ability to observe things so closely.

Tony thought for a moment. "All right, here´s what we´ll do. McGee, take the one at two o´clock. I´ll take the one at ten o´clock. Ziva, you got that sucker at five o´clock. Got that?" He asked and got two confirmational nods. "All right, let´s do this...one, two, three!"

The next few seconds were a blur -all three agents jumped out of the truck and opened fire immediately. Suddenly men jumped out behind trash cans and the truck itself, grabbing all three of them before they could react. Tony watched how McGee was knocked unconscious as well before he felt a sharp pain on his head followed by darkness. From the corner of his eye he saw a figure taking off over a few trashcans and a medium sized wall. The last conscious thought in his mind was the hope that it was Ziva who had gotten away, but he never got the confirmation for that as he blacked out.

Ignoring the shouts behind her, Ziva jumped over the obstacles and climbed the wall. Luckily, those men had underestimated her -from her slender form it wasn´t obvious that she was a trained Mossad agent. She felt a stinging pain in her shoulder and saw blood seeping through her shirt. One of the bullets had hit her from behind, piercing her shoulder just below the scapula. She turned around a bit and saw a figure standing on a lower rooftop, a gun in his hand. Her heart jumped when she recognized him, but then kept running while another bullet hit the ground right next to her. He would kill her here and now if he got the chance, that much was for sure. There was too much adrenalin in her system to feel any pain, but she knew that she needed help quickly. She was leaving a trail of blood that was easy to follow.

After what seemed like an eternity she saw a police station appearing to her right. She ran inside and saw black spots dancing in front of her eyes. Bloodloss and shock were slowly surfacing, but she pulled herself together. The officer behind the front desk stared at her with wide eyes, his hand on his gun. With what she had left, Ziva pulled her badge out. "Call NCIS...we were ambushed..." She managed and felt her knees buckle.

As her breathing slowed a bit, she regained some strength, eventhough the wound on her shoulder was still bleeding quite a bit. Some officer had grabbed a first aid kit and was putting something onto the wound to stop the bleeding. Ziva noticed that she was leaning against the front desk, but had no memory of how she had gotten into this position. She didn´t make a sound, eventhough it hurt badly. After what seemed like forever the front doors flew open and two men came running in, wearing the blue uniforms she had seen on EMTs before. "He took them." She managed before everything around her started spinning and the world grew black.

_NCIS headquarters, 20 minutes later_

Abby looked up when the door to the lab opened. She half expected to see Tony or Tim, but for some strange reason, Ducky came in. She wasn´t sure why, but the look on his face told her that something wasn´t right. "What´s up, Duckman?" She asked and tried to sound as cheerful as usually, but something made a chill run down her spine.

"Director Shepard wants to see us upstairs, Abigail." He said and waited for her to follow him. He could tell that she sensed his nervousness. "She did not tell me what it is about, so I couldn´t tell you even if I wanted to." He added and walked into the elevator.

"Something happened." She whispered and felt her heart beating faster. It was like an iron clamp was closing in around her. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. When the elevator doors opened, she saw Jenny Shepard standing in the middle of the bullpen. The director looked tense, not a good sign, not good at all.

"Dr. Mallard, Miss Sciuto." Shepard greeted them and waited until they had come to a stop in front of her. "I received a call from Bethesda hospital. Miss David was brought in by an ambulance with a bullet through her shoulder. Paramedics reported that she said "He took them." before passing out. Police found the MCRT truck at the location they were called to -it looks more like a sieve actually. I´m sorry to say it like this, but I believe the team was ambushed and taken hostage." She said and watched the horror that was now in the eyes of the two. "We´ve started looking for their mobile phones, but it seems like they´ve been turned off. Agent Balboa and his team are processing the scene right now and the truck will be hauled in later today. Dr. Mallard, if you could drive to Bethesda and see how Miss David is doing?" She asked and Ducky immediately walked out.

Abby stood rooted to the ground, not quite believing what she heard. "They´ve been taken hostage?" She whispered and felt sick all of the sudden. She kept her posture though and looked at Shepard with tears in her eyes. "They´re all gone..."

Much to her surprise, Jenny put a hand on the younger woman´s shoulder. "We´ll find them, Abby. Maybe Ziva can give us information on who ambushed them." She said and walked back upstairs to her office. "If there was a time they needed you most, it would be now, Jethro." She whispered to herself and sighed.


	4. Enemy´s Face

Viva Mexico

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Post-Hiatus. Gibbs moves to Mexico after resigning from duty. The team is ambushed and soon news are out that an old enemy is back. Will Gibbs come back to save them or does it need a little more to convince him that the team needs him?

* * *

4- Enemy´s Face 

Ducky arrived at Bethesda within half an hour. He found Ziva in a quiet room up on the fourth floor. A security guard was sitting in front of the door and gave him a questioning look, but let him pass without a word. Obviously he had been informed that he would come out.

Mallard sighed and sat down next to the bed after looking through the report and chart that lay on the table. He hadn´t known the young woman for long, but somehow this situation reminded him of what had happened to Kate. Only the swift movement of her chest rising and falling told him that Ziva was going to be okay.

The first thing Ziva noticed was a pair of kind eyes hovering above her. She relaxed when she recognized those eyes. "Ducky..." Her voice cracked and she scolded herself for her weakness.

"Welcome back." He put a glass of water to her lips and let her take a sip. "Are you feeling better?"

She nodded and managed to sit up a bit, ignoring the stinging pain in her shoulder. "I´m okay." She said and then remembered what had happened. "It was an ambush. Three shooters aiming at the truck...we jumped out to take them out and suddenly there were like five or six more of them in that alley. One of them hit Tim in the head -another one got Tony, I think. They were concentrating on them, thinking that I was weak. That´s how I got away, but he shot me when I climbed over that wall..." Her voice trailed off and she bit her lip to keep those tears of frustration from spilling.

Ducky tried to smile and put his hand on her arm. "We will get them back, do not worry about that. You did a good job, Ziva. If you hadn´t been able to get away, we would have no idea where to begin. It may very well be your statement that will help save them." He said and wondered why she seemed so tense all of the sudden. "What is the matter, dear?"

Ziva thought for a moment until the memory came back clearly. "He took them...He´s trying to take the team apart." She said so softly that it was almost inaudible.

Ducky saw the shock in her dark eyes and waited for a moment. "Did you recognize someone? Who, Ziva?" He asked and wondered why the young woman seemed so shocked all of the sudden.

"I have to get out of here. He´s going to kill me when he gets another chance." She said and tried to pull the cover off, but for some reason it seemed to be filled with lead. Her arms seemed to heavy to move and she felt the warmth of sleep creeping up on her slowly.

"You are no use to anyone if you exert yourself and pass out on us. Stay here for the night while I tell the others at NCIS what you have told me about the events. I will pick you up tomorrow morning, but take the night to recover." He said and for some reason, Ziva didn´t find the strength to object. She simply nodded and settled back on the bed, her eyes closing by themselves. Ducky smiled and put the cover back over her before leaving. Her eyes opened again as he did so and there was fear in them. "Find them, Ducky. He´s going to kill them like he killed Kate." She managed before falling asleep. She didn´t see the look of horror on his face, which was probably good.

Ducky sat next to her bed for a few minutes, his mind racing. He wasn´t sure whether it was the shock or if it could be true. Actually, he thought that it was not possible, but on the other hand Ziva seemed too sure about it. His hands balled into fists he got up and walked out.

Back at NCIS, Abby was still pacing up and down the bullpen when he came in. Her head shot up immediately. "Anything new?" She asked and closed the gap between them with a few steps.

"She will stay in Bethesda until tomorrow morning. It was a through-and-through, but she lost quite a bit of blood. From what she could tell me both Anthony and Timothy were taken hostage after a group of at least 8 people ambushed them. They had no chance, Abby, but with Ziva as witness there is a chance that we will get them home safely." He said and saw the doubt in her eyes. He didn´t want to tell her the last bit of news just yet.

"You know, I really wish we had Gibbs here for this. He would know where to look -or he would have known that it is an ambush beforehands...I miss him so much." She said and felt the older man pulling her into a hug.

"So do I, Abby, but it was his decision and you know just as well as I do that he never took back such a decision in his life ever." Mallard replied and looked up to the balcony above where Shepard was standing. "I´need to talk to Director Shepard for a moment, okay?" He let go of her and walked up the stairs.

Jenny Shepard sighed and walked into her office, motioning the doctor to take a seat. "What did you find out? Could Ziva identify any of their attackers?" She asked and noticed the look of horror in his eyes. The events of the day had taken their toll on her too, but Jenny could still sense that there was yet more to come.

"She is certain that she saw one of them clearly, but I don´t know how that could possibly be... She said that he wants to take the team apart. And that he will kill them just like he has killed Caitlin." He said and watched her blanching.

"Haswari? But Gibbs shot him in his basement almost a year ago..." She began and put her head into her hands. "How certain is this?"

Ducky tilted his head a bit. "Normally I would say uncertain as shock and the short moment she could actually see him would make it difficult to be sure, but we´re talking about Ziva David, who has been trained to observe closer than most others I know. If she says she saw Ari out there, I´m bound to believe her, no matter how uncomfortable this might seem."

Jenny nodded as she reminded herself how well she knew Ziva and her abilities. "Thank you, Dr. Mallard. I suggest you take a look at the evidence brought in. Special Agent Balboa found two dead men at the scene and I want to know if there´s any chance that Haswari is really still out there." She told him and waited until the door to her office was closed again.

Shepard dialed a long number and waited for the phone to ring. Usually it took him a few seconds to reach the phone, but it was picked up even before it rang twice. "Franks." He sounded calm, unlike the last time when she had called him up in the middle of the night.


	5. Cookies

Viva Mexico

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Post-Hiatus. Gibbs moves to Mexico after resigning from duty. The team is ambushed and soon news are out that an old enemy is back. Will Gibbs come back to save them or does it need a little more to convince him that the team needs him?

* * *

5- Cookies 

"It´s Jenny. I´m sorry to disturb you again, Mike...I suppose Jethro turned up at your place. Did he settle down yet?" She asked and heard how the man walked into some other room, closing a door behind him.

"You were right, as always, Jen." He simply replied and sighed. "I don´t remember him being that grumpy though. How come you´re calling?"

She bit her lip and tried to find the right words. "His team has been ambushed. Two of them were taken hostage, one was shot and is at the Bethesda now." She said and waited for some reaction, but of course there was none. "Did he tell you about what happened a year ago?"

He thought for a moment. "He told me that some nutter of a double agent shot one of his agents in the head. And that a new girl on the team shot that guy when he was ambushed in his basement. That what you mean?" Franks asked and sensed that this call was not just out of courtesy.

Jenny took a deep breath. "The man he´s talking about was Ari Haswari, a double agent of FBI and El Kaida. Dr. Mallard talked to Ziva at the hospital and she´s certain that she´s seen exactly that man there. I know it sounds impossible, but I believe her, Mike. If there´s someone who can track him down, it´s Jethro." She said and heard him laugh.

"You know that won´t happen, Jen. Gibbs is the most stubborn man I´ve ever met. I never thought it could get worse after Shannon and Kelly died, but the death of his agent seems to have hurt him too. He won´t come back." He said and sighed. "I wish I could tell you something else, but I trained him. I know how he feels."

Shepard nodded to herself. "All right, sorry for disturbing you then. I just thought you should know. Bye, Mike." She hung up and looked out of the window. She had half-expected something like this, but a part of herself had hoped to get a chance to talk to Gibbs. She returned her attention to the preliminary report Balboa had brought in.

_Mexico_

Gibbs had bought a small house right next to Mike´s place. A little more than a month had passed now since he had turned up at his house, but still there was no sign that he missed his work at NCIS. Franks hadn´t seen his other neighbor for a few days and decided to go over to her house. She opened the door and smiled. "Hi, come on in. I got fresh coffee." She said and closed the door behind him.

He sat down on the couch and waited for her to return with two cups of coffee. "What´s the matter with you lately? I haven´t seen you around for a while." He asked and saw a hint of nervousness in her eyes, which was uncommon.

"I´ve been busy. School will be out soon and we´re so behind with our finals -I really shouldn´t have taken the kids out to that baseball game, you know. Didn´t mean to insult you, Mike." She replied and took a sip from her cup. After setting it down on the table again, she rearranged her glasses to keep them from sliding off her nose and leaned back, obviously relaxing a bit.

He looked at her for a moment. "Does it have anything to do with the man who moved in next door to me? Since he turned up, you´ve been hiding." He said and wondered what was going on. She didn´t make a move to answer and he sighed. "Remember the man I told you about last month? The one I flew to Washington for?" She gave him a nod. "He turned up at my door the same day I came back from DC. Said that he needed to get away. He liked the area and bought the old Sanchez home."

"Oh, okay. I...well, I just thought I shouldn´t disturb you while you got company." Linda replied and got up to get some cookies from the kitchen. "You look a bit disturbed. Anything wrong?"

He smiled a bit. "I always wonder why you can tell so easily. I got a call from Jenny this afternoon. She wanted me to convince him to come back to DC, but if there´s someone who is stubborn as nothing else, it´s Jethro." He added and jumped when something broke with a loud crack in the kitchen. He got up and found Linda kneeling over the pieces of her cookie jar.

"The handle broke off, so it´s no cookies today." She said and started to pick up the scattered pieces. "What did you say last? I think I missed that." She asked as she carried a load of cookies to the trashcan. Afterwards she brushed a strand of hair out of her face and straightened her glasses again.

Franks started to pick up some pieces himself. "I said that Jethro is the most stubborn man alive. He would never take back his decision. He´s really bitter at the moment. I think losing one of his colleagues really got to him and getting hurt in the field isn´t helping much either. I heard that she was a brilliant agent, the agent who died last year." He said and threw the cookies and pieces into the trashcan.


	6. Revenge

Viva Mexico

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Post-Hiatus. Gibbs moves to Mexico after resigning from duty. The team is ambushed and soon news are out that an old enemy is back. Will Gibbs come back to save them or does it need a little more to convince him that the team needs him?

* * *

6- Revenge

Linda quickly returned her mind to here and now and started to pick up more cookies. "Maybe you should talk to him about that call. I mean, it was about him, so why keep it secret?" She said and emptied the last bits of the jar into her trashcan. "Listen, I got an appointment at 5 pm, so I guess I have to throw you out. I´ll see you soon, okay?" She said and hoped that he would buy it.

After looking at her for a moment, he nodded. "All right, see you around, Lin." He said and walked back to his house. He saw his friend sitting on the porch. "Hello, Jethro." He greeted him and the other man looked up.

"I wondered if you got some coffee for me. I ran out of stock somehow." Gibbs said and got up. "Visiting someone?" He then asked and peered down the road to the light blue house at the corner.

"Just Linda. She moved here about a while ago -her husband freaked out and tried to kill her. She´s nice. Maybe you´ll come along and meet her. I´m sure you´d like her. She´s half-italian, teaching PE at the school around the block." Franks said and went into the kitchen to make some coffee. He pulled out two cups and filled them with the hot liquid. "I got a call from Jenny this morning." He said and looked at his friend.

Gibbs merely raised an eyebrow and took a sip from his cup. "What did she want? Did she ask you to convince me to come back or something?" He said and grinned. He had expected something like this -after all Jenny was a friend of Mike as well.

"Something like that, yes. She told me about the man who shot your agent last year...what was her name again?" He asked and saw dark shadows in Gibbs´ eyes all of the sudden.

"Kate...Caitlin Todd." Gibbs replied and felt a sting in his heart when he suddenly saw her picture in front of his inner eye again. He had never told anyone how he had felt about her death -and probably never would.

"Oh, right. Anyway, Jen said that the man who shot her has turned up again lately." He said and heard the sound of a cup hitting the tiled floor. Some coffee spilled over the ground, but Gibbs didn´t seem to notice. "Jethro?" Mike carefully asked and wondered what had shocked him so much.

After a few moments, Gibbs seemed to snap out of his thoughts again. "He´s dead -he was shot in the head in my basement, Mike. It´s impossible. I bet it´s just her trying to get me back to DC." He said then, but something in his voice told Franks that he wasn´t completely convinced.

"Yeah, might as well be. Want some more coffee? Just don´t break another cup, okay?" He said and got a new one out of the cupboard. "She said she´s sure though. Someone, I think the name was Ziva, told her that it was exactly that man who shot her two days ago." He added and poured coffee, but when he turned around, the kitchen was empty.

_Washington_

Jenny Shepard put her cup of tea onto the table when the phone rang. She picked it up. "Shepard." She answered it and was a bit surprised about who was on the other end of the line. She couldn´t help smiling.

"What is this all about, Jen?" Gibbs demanded immediately, sounding anything but in control. "Why are you calling Franks, trying to get me back with a story like that?" He asked and from the way his voice vibrated she knew that he was in a very bad mood.

"It is not just some story, Jethro, but I accept your decision to stay at your new home. I just wanted to let you know about it." She said as calm as possible, but her heart was actually beating like mad. "Ziva is certain that she saw Ari -and I believe her. She said that he´s out for revenge."

There was a long silence. "How could he possibly be alive? Ziva shot him in the head. He was dead." He said and sighed. "I´m not coming back, Jen. I told you that."

"I know, Jethro. I promise I won´t try to contact you again, I just thought you should know." She said and waited for anything from his side. "Very well, take care. Goodbye." She hung up and felt her hands shaking. She knew that there was only one way left to get him to help, but she really dreaded taking this step. On the other hand, it really seemed like the only way.


	7. Revelation

Viva Mexico

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Post-Hiatus. Gibbs moves to Mexico after resigning from duty. The team is ambushed and soon news are out that an old enemy is back. Will Gibbs come back to save them or does it need a little more to convince him that the team needs him?

* * *

7- Revelation 

_Somewhere in Washington_

The sound of dripping water was the very first thing Tony noticed as he slowly regained consciousness. His head felt like it had been split in half and he couldn´t really remember how he had landed here. He slowly opened his eyes and felt the pain explode. Counting to ten he blinked a couple of times until he could make out some of his surroundings. The pain was still there, but now it felt more like Gibbs had slapped him a bit too hard. Something deep within him cringed at this thought, but it was gone the next moment when the surroundings became more clear.

It was a damp, smelly place -and it was cold, very cold actually. Tony tried to move, only to come to the painful realization that his body was tied to some kind of pipe. To his right, he heard a low moan and when he managed to turn his head enough, which felt like his neck would break any moment, he saw McGee, who seemed to wake up as well. "McGee? You hear me?" He asked and noticed that his voice sounded awful.

"Sh...Tony, are you there?" The younger agent asked, sounding about as bad as Dinozzo felt. "Where are we?" He then asked and tried to look around, but all he could see were damp, dark walls and a small iron grid in the floor.

"Smells like a sewer." Dinozzo replied and bit his lip when a sharp pain shot through his head again. "You don´t have some aspirin, do you?"

"Sorry, can´t help you there. I would need some myself. Where´s Ziva?" Tim then asked, as he remembered that there had been three of them in that ambush. He looked around, but except for Dinozzo and himself there was no sign of another human being anywhere around. He felt a chill creeping up his spine when the hopelessness of their situation finally found a way into his mind.

"I think she took off, but I´m not sure. Just saw someone climbing up a wall." Tony replied and gave up trying to get free. His hands were held behind the pipe with chains, as were his legs. Both felt too heavy to lift and he knew that he should save his energy for whatever was still to come. "Remember when that asian girl took those officers and put them into the sewers to die? Feels like back then when she got me too." He added, but couldn´t really feel relieved at the knowledge that he might have guessed what this room was. He also remembered how long it had taken the others to find him back then. And back in those days, they had had at least a distant idea of where it might be.

_Mexico_

A couple of days after his visit to her house, Linda turned up at Mike´s place. From the shadows under her eyes he could tell that she had not slept a lot the night before, maybe even longer. Her usually neatly done hair seemed in disarray and a long streak was sticking out of the ponytail. The sun made her hair seem more auburn that usual and for some reason, Mike sensed that she was not just coming over to say hi. "Good to see you." He greeted her and looked at her for a moment longer. "What´s wrong?" He asked and motioned her to come in.

She sighed and sat down on the couch. "I guess I have to tell you a few things." She said and ran her hand through her hair, as she waited until he returned from the kitchen. Franks always had fresh coffee, no matter what time or day it was. After yet another sleepless night, she knew that even his coffee wouldn´t help much, but still accepted the cup he held out to her. "I wasn´t completely honest to you and I´m really sorry, Mike. I didn´t mean to fool you, but I had no choice." She told him and turned the cup in her hand. "I haven´t seen your friend around today. Did he go out?"

"Jethro? I think he wanted to drive down to the beach today and take a walk. He called up Jenny and somehow that must have disturbed him. What´s the matter then?" Franks asked and wondered what secret those brown eyes were hiding.

She took a deep breath and put her glasses onto the table right next to her cup. "I didn´t move here because of some husband -I was never married." She said and watched his reaction. He seemed a bit surprised, but nothing more yet. "I was placed here to protect an undercover mission. It was vital to get some of the top people of an El Quaida cell that was causing trouble along the eastern coast."

Franks stared at Linda in surprise. "Wow...I mean, I´ve heard about protective custody and such things, I even placed some people in it myself, but I never thought it was that perfect. So, will you tell me the whole story or do I have to beg for it?" He then asked and leaned back. It was strange to see the woman he had grown to like with different eyes now, but it seemed to explain a lot of things he had wondered about.

She put the cup down and looked at her hands. "I´m not a teacher either -I´m not very good with kids actually. I know it sounds like I´ve lied to you all of the time, but I had no choice. I am the same person, but my biography is a bit different from what I told you. I´m a federal agent, Mike. Actually, I´m one of your own." She said and smiled.


	8. Making Waves

Viva Mexico

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Post-Hiatus. Gibbs moves to Mexico after resigning from duty. The team is ambushed and soon news are out that an old enemy is back. Will Gibbs come back to save them or does it need a little more to convince him that the team needs him?

* * *

8- Making Waves

Franks´ eyes were just about to pop out of their sockets when he learned this piece of news. "You´re an NCIS agent?" He asked and saw her nod.

"My name is not Linda. I know it might seem odd to you, but for everyone back in Washington, I died a little over a year ago. Gibbs told you about me -I know he took it really hard, but I couldn´t do anything about it."

Franks stared at the young woman who sat across from him, his mind racing. "Linda D´Cotti...it´s just an anagram, isn´t it? But Jethro said you were shot in the head."

She smiled. "It wasn´t me -they had someone else, but nobody knew about it. I´m not sure how exactly they did it, but I was already on a plane when they got to the warehouses. I hope you´re not too mad at me, Mike." It sounded honest and for the first time since he had met her, Mike knew that she was absolutely herself.

"I´m not, but why are you telling me all this now, Lin...I mean, Kate." He asked and noticed how she flinched at the sound of her real name.

"I got a call last night. I knew some bits from you already, but Agent Fornell filled me in about the rest. He and Director Shepard were the only ones to know the truth." She said and sighed. "Two days ago, the team was called to a crime scene, but it was an ambush. Tony and Tim were taken hostage, Ziva was shot and brought to hospital. They have no clue where they are holding them, but Ziva insists that it was Ari Haswari, who shot her. He was supposed to be dead, but obviously our setup a year ago didn´t work out as we planned it. I was supposed to stay in hiding until his El Quaida cell is busted, which hasn´t happened yet, but with my friends kidnapped and this man obviously alive, they need me in DC...me and probably most of all Gibbs."

Franks nodded. "He didn´t take the news well that this Haswari is possibly still alive. I can take you to the beach where he´s at, but you got to do the rest. I really don´t know how he´s going to take this." He said and got up. For some reason he felt relieved to know the whole truth and he felt that it would do his friend good to hear this truth as well.

They arrived at the beach around sunset. The blue sedan was parked near the road and Franks pulled up next to it. "Good luck, Kate." He said and watched her walk towards the beach. He didn´t wait for what would happen next, but pulled back onto the road and drove back home.

Kate stood on the parking lot for a moment and ran her hand over the hood of the sedan. She smiled when she remembered how many times she had sat in that car and how often she had bumped her head on the window when Gibbs had been driving. Long rows of stone that almost looked like tongues lead into the ocean, some as far as 150 yards. At the end of one of those rows she spotted a lone figure. He seemed to be staring at something at the distance.

She climbed over the stones until she stood a mere 15 ft behind him. The waves rolling against the stones, breaking there with a deep rumbling sound. Some doves were circling above and a bit away she could see a whale breaking through the water. The sun had started to set, causing the whole scene to seem somewhat unreal. Her heart was beating like mad when she finally found the strength to speak. "Gibbs?" She called at him, but he didn´t move.

She took another two steps until she had almost reached him. "Gibbs?" She tried again and saw his back straightening. After what seemed like forever, he turned around and looked at her, but he didn´t say a word. "They need our help, Gibbs." She said and saw something in his eyes that really hurt. There was not a single emotion.

He shook his head and broke into a sad smile. "Great, now I´m seeing ghosts." He mumbled to himself and she noticed an empty scotch bottle in his hand. She had seen him drinking that awful stuff more than once, but she had never seen him drunk like this. He staggered past her, not even trying to reach out for her. The bottle broke when he lost his balance, leaving a bleeding cut on his hand.

Kate followed him until they reached the beach. Gibbs let himself fall to the ground and stared into a distance. He didn´t seem to notice the cut on his hand that was now full of sand. She walked up to him and took his hand, carefully cleaning out the cut. "That´s going to be a nasty infection, you know that?"

He looked at her for a moment, still not comprehending what was going on. "If you only knew how much I wish that this was true, Katie. I never told them how much I miss you. How much it hurts to know that you had to die in my place." His speech was slurred and she saw a tear sliding down his face when he reached out to run his finger over her cheek.

She pulled him back up and forced him towards his car, taking the keys from him. "Let´s get you home." She said and started the car while he fell into a slumber on the passenger seat. It was almost 10 pm when they arrived at his house. Kate found the key and unlocked the front door while she tried to hold him steady with her other arm.

The inside of the house shocked her quite a bit. A bare lightbulb was dangling from the ceiling in what was supposed to be a livingroom. A couch stood somewhere in the middle of the room, a small coffee table in front of that. There was a pillow and a blanket on the couch, a few boxes stood around, but nothing else. She lowered Gibbs onto the couch where he fell asleep again.

After making sure that he was really sleeping she walked over to Franks´ place and got a first aid kit from him. Mike didn´t ask or even follow her. He knew that this was something those two had to finish and he wasn´t going to stick his nose into other people´s stuff.

Kate cleaned out the cut on Gibbs´ hand and put a bandage on it. She still wasn´t sure if she had cleaned it enough, but she hoped that they would be back in DC soon. Ducky would take care of it then. Afterwards she sat down against the wall and continued to watch him until she fell asleep.


	9. Backup

Viva Mexico

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Post-Hiatus. Gibbs moves to Mexico after resigning from duty. The team is ambushed and soon news are out that an old enemy is back. Will Gibbs come back to save them or does it need a little more to convince him that the team needs him?

* * *

9- Backup 

When Kate shot up again, Gibbs was still sleeping peacefully. The sun had just come up and a look at her watch confirmed that it was shortly after 7 am. She smiled a bit and stretched. Her muscles were screaming in pain when she moved, but it got better rather quickly. She found some coffee in the kitchen and returned with two full cups a few minutes later. She put them onto the table and sat down on the edge of the couch. "Gibbs?" Kate smiled when she carefully shook him and his eyes fluttered open.

He smiled sleepily and rubbed his eyes. "I had the best dream..." He mumbled, but suddenly shot up straight. He stared at her for a few moments and blinked a couple of times. "But...I´m still dreaming, right?" He said, but at the same moment reached out for her. When his fingertips touched her face, she felt her heart beating like mad. A single tear rolled down her face.

"It´s not a dream. It wasn´t me on that rooftop, Gibbs. Fornell hid me to bust Ari´s cell. They thought without him as a leader those people wouldn´t make it for long, but obviously, Ari is still alive." She said and watched his eyes. It was clear that he didn´t quite believe what he was hearing -or what he was seeing.

"Why here?" He asked after a moment and tried to sort his thoughts. Kate was alive -she was sitting here with him, drinking coffee. He would have given his arm and leg for this only a few weeks ago and now it seemed to be reality. It seemed almost too perfect to be true and somewhere deep inside him, there was still doubt.

"I don´t know, I really don´t. We have to go back, Gibbs. Both of us do." She said and saw the doubt shining in his eyes. "It´s really me. See? You gave me this after I shot that boy by accident." She held a small silver cross up to him. At this, she noticed a tear sliding down his face and hugged him tight. He allowed the hug and she felt his arms closing around her body.

After a moment he let go of her again and sat up straight. "I´m glad you´re back, Kate." He said and put on his professional manner again. "Now, what is the matter in DC that makes them get you out of protection?" She had to surpress a smile when she noticed how businesslike he suddenly behaved, but she knew it was a sign that he was back to his own self.

Kate sighed. "Tony and Tim were taken hostage by Ari´s group. Ziva was shot, but as far as I know she´s okay. They don´t have a clue as to where he´s holding them and Director Shepard fears that time is running out quickly. Ari isn´t out for ransom or anything like that. He wants to take the team apart -trying to kill me was the first step. It was him who planted the bomb that hurt you so badly too." She said and saw how the fire returned to his eyes.

"Get whatever you need, we´re leaving within an hour." He told her and she happily complied. That was how she remembered him and it felt good. He was back in boss-mode, as Tony used to call it and Kate wasn´t really sad about leaving Mexico. Eventhough she had grown used to life around here, her thoughts had drifted back to DC a lot, especially after she had found out who Mike Franks really was and even more since Gibbs had turned up.

_ Washington_

No more than seven hours later, they walked into the NCIS headquarters, startling the guard at the door quite a bit. Kate followed her boss quietly. She wasn´t sure how to think about all this. She wasn´t supposed to be here -she wasn´t even supposed to be alive, at least in the minds of everyone who had worked with her. Eventhough it was only 4 pm, the office building seemed deserted, but on a sunday, it was normal.

Jenny Shepard waited for them in the bullpen. She was smiling when she saw them coming in. "Jethro, Agent Todd. I guess I should say welcome back. I just wish the circumstances were a bit brighter." She said and got a questioning look from Gibbs. "We were able to plot them within an area of about 25 square miles, somewhere in the area they were taken hostage, but we´re not getting any closer." She told them and smiled a bit wider. "I asked Dr. Mallard and Miss Sciuto to come in today. I suppose they are downstairs at the moment." She added.

Gibbs looked at Kate. "I take it you want to go and see Abby for a moment. I will be there in a moment." He said and watched her walk over to the elevator with a smile. When the doors closed behind her, he turned to Jenny for more information on what had happened.

Kate felt her heart beating like mad when she walked into the lab. Everything was so familiar, just as if she had only left a day ago, but it had been more than a year since she had last passed those doors. Abby was concentrating on something on her spectrometer and didn´t hear her coming in. There was loud music playing from the stereo that sat on a shelf next to the door. Kate turned the music off and waited for her friend to turn around, but she didn´t. "Abby?" At the sound of her name, the goth almost jumped off the chair and turned around. The look on her face was hilarious.

"Kate? But...KATE!" Abby flung herself at Kate and hugged her. "Oh my god...but you were dead, weren´t you? I mean, how..." She stared at her friend in disbelief.

"Abbs, where are the fingerprints from the truck?" Another voice cut in and Abby squealed happily.

"Gibbs!!! I missed you so much!" She hugged him too and handed him a piece of paper. "That´s almost like Christmas, Easter, my birthday and New Year´s all together! Are you going to tell me what happened?" She asked and it seemed like the shock had disappeared completely already.

"As soon as Tony and Tim are back safely." Kate said and looked at the door that had just opened again. "Good to see you, Ducky!" She greeted the doctor, who looked dumbfounded. His jaw dropped right through the floor when he saw them.

Mallard stared at the three people who had assembled in the lab and took a deep breath, still wondering if he was dreaming. "My, Caitlin. I do believe you have to explain this miracle to me, Jethro." He said and looked at Gibbs, who was looking at a printout.

Gibbs put the paper down and shrugged. "You should ask her. She turned up in Mexico out of nothing." He said with a smile playing on his lips. "We can do some story telling when Dinozzo and McGee are back here. Where´s Ziva?"

Abby grinned and took the paper back from him while Mallard noticed the bandage on his hand. "She´s still on leave. What happened to your hand?" He asked and only now Gibbs seemed to realize that there was something on his hand.

Kate answered in his place, for which he was grateful. "He helped me pick up some pieces of a broken jar and cut himself. I hope I cleaned the cut well enough, but maybe you should take a look at it, Ducky." She said and noticed the look in Gibbs´ eyes. He seemed glad that she lied for him. It almost felt like nothing had ever happened, but just almost.


	10. NCIS To The Rescue

Viva Mexico

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Post-Hiatus. Gibbs moves to Mexico after resigning from duty. The team is ambushed and soon news are out that an old enemy is back. Will Gibbs come back to save them or does it need a little more to convince him that the team needs him?

* * *

10- NCIS to the rescue

An hour later, Ziva David arrived at the office. She still had her right arm in a sling, but seemed relieved to see Gibbs back at NCIS. "And you are?" She wondered when she saw Kate sitting at her desk.

Gibbs was a bit quicker on the uptake and walked up to her. "I forgot to introduce you. Officer Ziva David, Special Agent Caitlin Todd." He said and grinned when he noticed the puzzled look on Ziva´s face.

She turned towards him. "You´ve got to be joking." She said, but then noted the look on his face that told her that it was the truth. "I was told that you were shot." She added as she turned back towards Kate.

Kate smirked. "That´s what everyone thought, but it was a setup to bust an El Quaida cell. It looks like both sides used stand-ins to make the other side believe that they succeeded." She explained and looked at the map that was on the plasma screen. "Gibbs, that area...wasn´t that the same place we found those officers who had been left in the sewers?"

He looked at it for a moment, then nodded. "I think so...are you thinking they are held down there? Like that mad woman held Tony hostage?" He asked and she slowly nodded.

After not being on duty for a year, it seemed difficult to come to conclusions that made sense, but for some reason Kate didn´t want to miss that anymore. "How about a little trip down the sewers again?" She asked and put her gun into the holster.

Half an hour later Gibbs parked the MCRT truck behind an old warehouse and looked around. "Looks good to me." He said and pulled his gun out, scanning for any signs of other people around. "How long have they been missing, Ziva?" He asked and looked at her.

"57 hours, 34 minutes, I forgot to count the seconds." She replied and smiled when he looked a bit startled. "If they were left to die, we will need an ambulance. Dehydration will be severe." She added and got her gun out as well. She knew Ari better than most others and was aware that he could be watching them right at this moment. Gibbs was about to object, but then realized that she would come along anyway –and that he might need her help.

They found an open hatch and climbed down into the underground. The stench was breathtaking, but nobody spoke a word. Every sound echoed back and they tried to be as quiet as possible. Gibbs had taken one from Balboa´s team with him while Kate and Ziva were looking into the other direction. It was really dark and even the flashlights seemed less efficient somehow. The darkness seemed to swallow the beams of light after only a couple of yards.

After a while, there was a sound coming from somewhere right ahead, causing Kate to stop. She looked at Ziva, who just nodded. Even with her right arm injured, she was prepared to protect themselves against whatever would lie behind that bend. Her muscles tensed up as she approached the crossing where several pipes came together. At first it seemed empty, but then she noticed a hatch in one of the walls which seemed to have been opened recently. Some rats were obviously fighting over something eatible. Ziva looked at the other agent and gave her a nod. It was the sign that she was watching their back, just in case someone decided to walk out on them as they searched whatever lay behind that hatch.

Kate nodded and walked over, carefully scanning their surroundings. She was almost sure to recognize this place, but yet it looked like just some intersection of the city´s bowels. The hatch had been opened recently, that much was for sure. She probed the handle and when she gave it a slight pull, the hatch opened with a creaking sound. The sight behind it was relieving and shocking at the same time. Two bodies were chained to vertical pipes, hands and legs tied to the back.


End file.
